For on-line shoppers, waiting at home for the delivery can be boring and a waste of time. Volvo has a creative solution for the waiting problem: deliver packages directly to your car.
Yes, Volvo is delivering packages to personal cars in a new pilot project available at the company’s Swedish headquarter city of Gothenberg. The first of its kind service provides in-car delivery as an alternative to deliveries to home, apartments, or offices. Once the consumer places an online order with a retailer, the delivery person then locates the consumer’s Volvo car via GPS and is given a one-time use digital key to drop the package in the car trunk. The owner receives a digital notification on their smartphone once delivery is complete.
The service is only available today to Volvo owners in Gothenburg who subscribe to the Volvo On Call telematics service. But, this is just the beginning. Volvo has also mentioned that other potential deliveries in the future may include a fuel-delivery service for cars with nearly empty fuel tanks.
Deliveries will never be the same.
Group Activities and Discussion Questions:
- Discuss the supply chain from manufacturer, to middleman, to customers. Where are the opportunities for innovation?
- Show the Volvo in-car delivery video: https://youtu.be/WZUDHytwt3s
- Discuss the possible impact on the supply chain by using this service.
- Poll students: Would they like packages delivered to their cars? Why or why not? What are the concerns?
Source: CNBC, other news sources
